Rugged, remote, beautiful – these are the trails in Groton State Forest. Join us for this awesome trail event, aimed at bringing you back to the forest and providing you with an unrivaled running experience. Runners can choose from either a 26.5 mile course, a 15.2 mile course or a 6.5 mile course that are all technical, challenging and gorgeous. All of these courses are a mix of single track, double track and dirt road. These courses were designed to feature some of the best trails, awesome views and rugged sections of the Groton State Forest with as little overlap as possible.
The Groton Forest Trail Run starts and finishes at Boulder Beach State Park and along with fully-stocked aid stations, we will have the band Kava Express, race swag prizes and a taco bar picnic with locally-sourced food at the finish. The Groton Forest Trail Run is a zero waste event, which includes being cupless. We will have NO cups at the aid stations so please plan accordingly so you can stay hydrated. Apologies we cannot provide refunds at this time – again sorry – NO REFUNDS.
Also, the Outdoor Family Weekend will be taking place during race weekend at the Stillwater Park in the Groton State Forest. This program, which starts Friday and ends Sunday, provides families with courses throughout the weekend in outdoor recreation and education in order to inspire the next generation of state park goers and campers in Vermont. We are working closely with these folks to ensure safety for all of our runners and also to provide your family and friends with an opportunity to participate in some of these outdoor learning activities. Please ask us when you come to register what the open classes are and please be aware of non-race activities taking place in the Forest.
Community Support
The Groton Forest Trail Run is a fundraising event, with all dollars not used to put on the event donated to local partners Central Vermont Runners, Cross Trails Vermont and the Groton Ryegate FAST Squad. This event was created to introduce more people to Groton Forest and to inspire our community, especially our youth, to get active in the outdoors. This event is made possible by the Vermont State Parks, staff of the Groton State Forest, Central Vermont Runners, Cross Trails Vermont, Burke Mountain Resort, the Cabot General Store, Misty Knoll, Tailwind, Outdoor Gear Exchange, Positive Pie, Farnham Family Farm Grassfed Beef and the Groton Ryegate FAST Squad. Also thanks to all of the tireless volunteers that help make this happen – if you are a runner – thank a volunteer! If you want to volunteer – please let us know.
6.4 mile course
This new 10k course is about 6.5 miles with 1100 ft. of elevation gain. This course features the summit of Little Deer with views of Lake Groton. This course is about 75% technical single track and 25% dirt road. A map will be coming soon.
15.2 mile course
This course is about 15 miles with 3200 ft. of elevation gain. This course features the summits of Big Deer and Little Deer with views of Lake Groton, and Owls Head overlooking Kettle Pond. This course is about 50% technical single track, 25% multi-use trail, and 25% dirt road. Please look at the pictures on this page for a map of the course.
26.5 mile course
The long course is about 26.5 miles with 5,000 ft. of elevation gain. This course is approximately 60% technical single track, 10% multi-use trail, and 30% dirt road. In addition to Big Deer, Little Deer, and Owls Head this course features loops around Kettle and Osmore Ponds. Please look at the pictures on this page to find maps of the course.
Aid Stations
There are 4 aid stations on our race courses. Cross Trails Vermont and other community partners will operate aid stations stocked with trail noshing necessities like: gummy bears, m&ms, potato chips, pretzels, watermelon, grapes, bananas and peanut butter sandwiches. We will also serve plain water, pickle juice and Coca-Cola and Ginger Ale. Tailwind is our endurance drink sponsor – to learn more click here: https://www.tailwindnutrition.com
Places to Stay
Groton State Forest is in a remote area of Vermont, but there are plenty of camping options and camp rental opportunities, if you make your reservations early. Vermont state parks: Seyon Ranch State Park within Groton State Forest. For information and reservations, see https://www.vtstateparks.com/htm/seyon.cfm. For summer camping accommodations, see Ricker Pond Campground (https://www.vtstateparks.com/ricker.html ) and Kettle Pond Campground has group lean-to sites, that can accommodate larger groups.
In addition to the state parks, there are several places listed on airbnb in Groton and nearby towns. Seyon Lodge is certainly the best place. There is the Marshfield Inn, and Danville Inn and the Groton Forest Road Campgrounds (private). Also there is a list of camp rentals on Lake Groton at https://grotonpond.com/Classifieds.htm – most are weekly and fully booked in summer but since it is after Labor Day there likely are openings. Beyond that Wells River/Woodville (NH) motels are about 35 minute (closest to 91), and Barre, Montpelier (Closest to I-89) and St. Johnsbury are all about 45 minutes.
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